Envelop.



No. 656,932. Patented Aug. 28, moo. B. A. BROWN.

ENVELUP.

(Application filed Jan. 10, 1900.} m 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

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E N V E L 0 P.

(Application filed Jan. 10, 1900.;

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(No Model.)

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STATES BERRY ANDERSON BROWN, OF FRANKLIN, OHIO.

ENVELOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,932, dated August 28, 1900. Application filed January 10, 1900. Serial No. 917. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERRY ANDERSON BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Franklin, in the county of Warren and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envolops; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to a novel safety-envelop of that type originated by me and described in my concurrent application,

Serial No. 734,232, the distinguishing feature of which type is a sealing-tongue detachably retained by the envelop and to which the gummed sealing-flap is designed to be sealed when turned down.

The invention relates more particularly to the means for detachably retaining the tongue; and it consists in the provision of slits in the body of the envelop and apeculiar arrangement of the tongue in connection therewith, as fully described hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a rear view of my envelop unsealed. Fig. 2 is a perspective view thereof, showing the sealingtongue in process of attachment. Fig. 3 is a similar view at a more advanced stage of this operation. Fig. 4 is a central transverse sectional view on the line so a; of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a detail view of the tongue. Fig. 6 is aperspective view of a modified form of my envelop, and Fig. 7 is a sectional View thereof.

Before proceeding with the description of the envelop it may be well to refer briefly to the considerations which have induced me to devise this particular form of tongue-securing device. In envelops of this character, embodying a sealing-tongue secured with practicable simplicity, the tongue, if formed from the ordinary paper-stock such as is employed in the manufacture of the envelop, is liable to be torn during its manipulation or passage through the mails. To obviate this,

I have arranged the device in a manner to secure a double thickness of the material at the point subjected to the greatest strain and where the mutilation usually occurs-that is to say, 1 form the tongue from the ordinary envelop-stock; but by novel manipulation a double thickness of the tongue is opposed to the strain to which it is subjected by a pull upon the sealing-flap.

Referring to the numerals of reference indicating corresponding parts and features in the several views, 1 indicates an envelop provided,as usual,with a gummed sealing-flap 2. A pair of parallel slits 3 and 4 are formed in the back of the envelop to form a retainingstrap 5, and at a sufficient distance below the strap is formed a keeper-slit 6.

The locking-tongue 7 comprises a narrow strip or tongue proper 8, widened at one end to form a sealing-head 9, located in the path of the sealing-flap 2, and to which said flap is designed to be sealed when the envelop is finally closed. In order to attach the tongue, it is doubled upon itself. The doubled end 10 is then passed under the strap 5 and doubled back thereon, and the end 11 of the tongue is then doubled back over the strap, and the imposed doubled end 10 and its extremity are finally passed into the keeper-slit 6. Thus the doubled end of the tongue constitutes its primary securing means, but is prevented from pulling through the slit 4 by the single end 11, which holds it flat against the face of the strap. The envelop is filled and the sealing-flap is moistened and turned down against the head of the tongue, to which it adheres, as usual. The detachable connection between the tongue and envelop then becomes the sealing means, and the envelop comes within the law relating to second-class mail-matter.

In order to unseal the envelop, it is simply necessary to withdraw the end of the tongue from the keeper-slit and thereby release the end 10, which may then be withdrawn from beneath the strap by simply raising the sealing-flap.

In Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings I have illus trated a variation of my envelop, the only difference being that the keeper-slit 6 is omitted, and the extremity of the end 11 of the tongue is passed through the slit 4. after be ing folded back over the doubled end 10.

While the envelop constructed as shown and described is believed at this time to be the preferable embodiment of my invention, 1 do a fications, and variations as may come Within the scope of the following claims.

Therefore What I claim is- 1. An envelop provided with slits in its body forming a retaining-strap and a sealingtongue doubled upon itself and having its doubled end passed around one edge of the strap.

2. An envelop havinga retaining-strap and a sealing-tongue having double and single ends folded upon said strap in opposite directions.

8. An envelop provided With slits in its body forming a retaining-strap, and a sealingtongue doubled upon itself, the doubled end being passed under the strap and folded back thereon, the single end of the tongue being folded over the strap in the opposite direction, and having its extremity passed into the envelop.

l. An envelop having a retaining-strap and a keeper-slit formed in its body and a sealing-tongue doubled upon itself, passed under the strap and folded back thereon and having its single end folded back over the strap in the opposite direction and passed into the keeper-slit.

BERRY ANDERSON BROWN.

Witnesses:

P. H. RUE, FREDK. KINSEY. 

